Extremism has become a sensationalized catchall phrase, often used by politicians and mass media to polarize and to label groups of people as "the bad guys." But, what is extremism? And how do we get to the root of its destructiveness?

History shows that if conservative papers weren't subsidized by deep-pocketed owners, they would fail in a free market. By contrast, at least until the current paradigm shift from print to online, newspapers dismissed as "liberal" had generally been thriving -- many of them under publicly owned companies.

There are times you literally do not believe your eyes, and for me this was one of them: The stunning sight of more than 2,000 young couples on the floor of Madison Square Garden -- brides in identical white gowns, grooms in identical blue suits.

Over the years, Sun Myung Moon has built an enormous multinational business conglomerate, announced he was the Messiah, and crowned himself the "King of Peace" on Capitol Hill. All largely unnoticed by the American public.

The Washington Times is going through its own version of a 2012 disaster. Firings! Recriminations! All of this is happening as the family of owner Sun Myung Moon stages its own bizarre version of King Lear.